A more detailed Bio

Name: If you do some research, you'll find it soon enough, but for now, just call me Koiyuki

Age: 26, or so, though people tell me I look much younger

Height: 5'6, last time I checked

Weight: 210, last time I checked(though in my younger days, I was 160. Guess I shoulda kept up the DDR regiment)

Occupation:Writer/Freelance teacher of Japan's language and culture

Location: Somewhere near Long Beach, CA

Favorite Color: Blue, has been for as long as I can remember

Favorite Food: Pizza! Love to eat it and to make it for others!

Favorite Song: “Mare of the Night” by Magenta Lane
(though this changes on a very frequent basis)

Favorite Book: Azumanga Daioh series (excellent 4 panel Manga, and highly recommended)

Favorite Show: Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (one of the best peeks into the deeper aspects of Japan's overall culture, especially with AFK's translation and liner notes)

Dislikes: Closemindedness, obfuscation of knowledge, needless price barriers, unprofessional behavior, sour tangerines...(I could go on for hours, honestly, so I'll stop here)

Q1: What got you into My Little Pony?
Well I've always known about the franchise, but most of that time, it was as a toy line, first and foremost. The first time I heard of the show was through the Ms. Magazine article declaring it to be smart-shaming and racist. Later, I found an article citing it as part of the end of creator driven TV, which planted the seeds for my interest as time passed, and the show began popping up more in my fields of research. After seeing a video re-purposing the Cupcake song's lyrical structure, the wheels started clicking, and eventually lead to me seeing an actual episode. As it is with many popular properties, there was a special magic about it that, to this day, I can't quite pinpoint, and the more I watched, the deeper its mitts got into me. Now I'm here writing MLP fanfic. Fancy that, eh?

Q2: What are your thought son it as it is today?
From my time watching it,I've come to see that, while it's still heavily rooted in toy shilling, it's a show that hinges on striking that magical button within the viewer that keeps them coming back time and again, that button being right next to the “OMG THIS IS COMPLETE AND UTTER TRASH” one, much like the Homestuck webcomic and its surrounding properties-which, for the sake of professionalism, I'll only say I have a deep distaste for

Q3: What about the community around MLP?
Well there's plenty of rather immature behavior, misogyny, racism, objectification, infighting, and so on, but considering the majority of the fandom is made up of people still discovering themselves and their place in the world, that much isn't a surprise; what was, though, was how much the show's core principles, especially those of love and tolerance, have permeated throughout the way fans treats others, including its history of supporting charities. Additionally, its more creative fans have made astounding works inspired by the show, from the music videos, to the countless games andpieces of art, even the production of an entire episode by fans in animation school and multiple documentaries about this community, such as this one. The overall level of quality of these paired with the mostly friendly, creative and proactive nature of the fanbase has proven to be rather impressive, more so considering that all this,the cons around the show, and other budding elements, have occurred within the span of 3 years(it's even inspired me to contribute my own creativity to the pile!). Only time will tell how it grows as the show goes on, and the fandom matures and starts to rub up against larger, older and more pervasive ones, like the ones around Star Wars, Star Trek and Doctor Who

Q4: How would you compare this to other subcultures?
Other fandoms I've seen, like those around Babylon 5, Buffy and others, have taken far more time to achieve far less impression on society's collective consciousness, including those that inspired this very show. Anime, for example, has helped influence the style and aesthetics of this iteration of My Little Pony, and the more time I've spent observing the fandom, the greater this influence has shown itself to be, more so when I see things like the hand drawn recreation of an intro for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni using the MLP cast. Where the forces behind Anime have tried fighting off the new ways to distribute media, those behind My Little Pony have done everything within legal bounds to embrace them, in turn enabling rapid growth of the fanbase and the ability to build a strong rapport with the fans, even when incidents like the Cease and Desist orders Hasbro's sent to big name fan projects and the whole Alicorn Princess debacle threatened to critically strain them. On top of all that, this show has done something that few other shows have: challenge the gender binary. Through the deeply complex personalities Lauren Faust has given the cast, she and her staff continue to show that there's more than one way to be girl, just as the male fans who openly enjoy it, whether they be soldiers, car nuts, artists or what have you, continue to show there's more than one way to be guy, both helping to further define, if not redefine what it means to be male or female.

Q5: What do you think about its future?
If the staff maintains the plan set by Lauren Faust, it should have a long, healthy run before its next iteration although, if memory serves, the longest run I've seen a show Lauren Faust worked on enjoy was about 6 seasons; whether this show meets or exceeds that hinges on how well the staff handles the growth and evolution of the cast:after all, once you have a character achieve the goal that defines their character it takes strong creative direction to keep it going and keep the fans coming back when new episodes and related properties are released

Q6: What are you into outside of My Little Pony?
Well, if my answers aren't enough of an indicator, my bread and butter lies in creative writing, and before this show, my deepest love was for Japan's language and culture, and to this day, that love still burns long and strong. This love first inspired me to take my writing more seriously, and even got me to start work on a book, which turned into writing for a webcomic in development, which has lead to me working on materials that make it as easy as possible to teach others about the language and culture, and get them communicating as quickly as my skills will allow Several obstacles await those willing to learn about them, and in my view inferior, disabling teaching methodology should never be one of them.

Q7: How have they shaped the way you approach things?
In the long run, they've made me that much more aware of the things around me, how others live their lives in another country, and how much I have in common with their struggles,their daily grind, and what they choose to make part of their world. As a person I can't imagine how different my life would be without the Anime fandom, the very fandom which lead me to meet those who changed my life on an indelible level. As a teacher, it helped me to see how different people are,and that there can never be a one size fits all method to helping them learn;it has to be able to adapt to their needs and desires and let them take the info in in a way particular to them and how they do things, since doing otherwise would rip away the creativity and emotion fueling pure communication

Q8: What do think are your defining traits?
Among the words I've heard others use to describe me are outgoing, smart and straight-forward, which I personally don't think are that far off the mark; then again, I'm naturally quite biased, in that regard. Honestly, I think I'm a bit of a prick, and that's because I know the path I want to take, that I have the skills,knowledge and self belief to achieve it, and know more about who I am and what I want than most people my age, and because of that, it's tough for me to back down to those who want to tear me down. I expect the best from the people I work for and with, and don't like to deal with a bunch of nonsense, so if someone I work with isn't cutting the mustard, they won't have my services much longer as a matter of fact, I've even walked out on a class where the teacher was utterly unprepared, utterly unprofessional, and utterly lackadaisical about what he taught). If you're willing to be firm, but positive with me when I'm at my worst, I will give you all the understanding, insight and know how my travels have given me to be at my best

Q9: Where would you like to travel to?
Should my resources allow,I would love to head to Japan for some hands on research, as well as to see the things I teach about in the flesh, so to speak. I know it would make my understanding that much deeper and mire layered when I do, and anticipate the day my feet touch the country's soil. Outside of that, one of the things I've always wanted to do is get a mobile living space ready, then travel the country seeing the sights and speaking to people who live in different areas of America so I can increase my understanding of it, and seek out more of the common threads we all share

Q10: What would you want people to remember about you?
In Tweet size: I just wanna watch the world learn. I want people to understand, to communicate, and to love themselves as they are, not for who society wants them to be.
In long form: My life has hinged on learning how to understand people and helping them understand the path they walk, who they speak with, and how they interact with the world around them. If people remember me for that, I don't care what else they remember me for. Life is far too short to get caught up in trivial nonsense that in the grand scheme of things, amounts to nothing more than a hill of beans Live well, enjoy everything, and be the best you your skills let you be;if people don't like it, sucks for them.